Tom Meschery

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Lore & Background

Meschery was born as Tomislav Nikolayevich Meshcheryakov in Harbin, Manchukuo. His parents were Russian emigrants who fled from the October Revolution in 1917. Meschery's mother worked for the American consulate in Harbin and aided in the release of White Russian soldiers imprisoned by the Chinese; one of them was Meschery's father, Nicholas Vasily Meshcheryakov, who was a family friend from Russia. Meschery's parents married in 1934. Through his maternal grandmother, Meschery is a descendant of the Tolstoy family and a direct relation of writers Leo Tolstoy and Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy. His maternal grandfather, Vladimir Nikolaevich Lvov, was a Russian politician. In 1939, Meschery's father moved to the United States so he could establish a home for his family in California. Meschery, his mother and his sister were supposed to emigrate the following year. However, their plans were disrupted by the outbreak of World War II as Meschery's family were taken from China by Japan and moved to an internment camp in Tokyo. Meschery spent his childhood in the camp and recalls experiencing the bombing of Tokyo. After the war, Meschery and his family emigrated to the United States and were reunited with his father in San Francisco in 1946. It was also in this phase of his life where his father renamed the family 'Meschery' due to the anti-Communist/anti-Soviet Red Scare under Joseph McCarthy, and Tomislav Nikolayevich was renamed Thomas Nicholas, which later was abbreviated to Tom. Meschery struggled to fit in with his classmates because of his accent and initial poor grasp of the English language. During a sixth grade kickball game, he was celebrated by his teammates for making a huge kick and 'from that point on, [he] worked very hard to be an athlete.' Meschery attended Lowell High School and was selected as a Parade All-American in 1957. After graduating in 1957, he went to Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga. Meschery helped Saint Mary's reach the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight in 1959. Two years later, he was chosen as a First Team All-American, and was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961.

In Their Own Story

Drafted seventh overall by the Philadelphia Warriors in 1961, Meschery started at forward on the team that featured Wilt Chamberlain. He was present when Chamberlain scored his historic 100 points and later wrote a poem titled "Wilt" about the event. Known for his physical play, he led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962 and earned the nickname "The Mad Russian." In 1963, he became the first foreign-born player to participate in an All-Star Game. In a unique honor, the Warriors retired his number 14 on opening night of the 1967-68 season while he was still playing for Seattle, making him the first player to have his number retired by the franchise.

Reader's Guide

After graduating from St. Mary's, Meschery was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors as the 7th pick overall in the 1961 NBA draft. Meschery was the starting forward on the 1961–62 Philadelphia Warriors team and played alongside Wilt Chamberlain when he scored 100 points; he wrote the poem 'Wilt' about the moment. Meschery led the NBA in personal fouls in 1962. Meschery was nicknamed 'The Mad Russian' during his playing career because of his hard-nosed style which included fights with other players. Meschery became the first foreign-born player to play in an NBA All-Star Game when he was nominated in 1963. The following year, Meschery made his first Finals appearance, as the Warriors lost 4–1 to the Boston Celtics. Chamberlain left the Warriors in 1965, returning to his home town Philadelphia, to play with the 76ers. The Warriors however, strengthened by the arrival of Rick Barry, made it to the 1967 NBA Finals, in which they lost to Chamberlain's 76ers. After his second NBA Finals appearance, Meschery was selected by the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics during the 1967 NBA expansion draft. In the SuperSonics' inaugural season, Meschery led the team in rebounds (10.2 per game) as well as personal fouls. He retired following the 1970–71 season, having played four seasons for the SuperSonics. Meschery had his number 14 retired by the Warriors on the opening night of the 1967–68 season in his first game playing against them. He became the first player to have his number retired by the Warriors. The Warriors also gave him a unique honor by incorporating the number into the team's logo from 1967 to 1974. Meschery has been inducted into the San Francisco High School Hall of Fame; Saint Mary's College Hall of Fame (his college jersey #31 retired); and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. After retiring as a player, Meschery joined the Peace Corps as a basketball coach in Venezuela but his position was dismantled after a few months. He was hired as head coach by the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association (ABA) after being encouraged by the team's general manager, Carl Scheer. Meschery guided the Cougars to a record of 35–49 in the 1971–72 season before being replaced by Larry Brown. Meschery wrote a book about his experience, Caught in the Pivot: a Diary of a Rookie Coach in the Exploding World of Pro Basketball, which was published in 1973. Meschery spent two

Did You Know?

• Meschery led the NBA in personal fouls in the 1962–63 season (with 333 fouls), not 1962.
• Meschery became the first foreign-born player to play in an NBA All-Star Game when he was nominated in 1963.
• Meschery had